My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Spring Training: Phillies late rally falls short as they lose to the Yankees, 8-5.

In their next to last Spring Training game in Florida, a ninth inning rally by the Phils fell short as they lose to the Yanks, 8-5.

Kyle Drabeck, who is coming back from injury, started the game for the Phils, receiving a rough reception from the Bronx Bombers. In two and one-third innings, Drabeck gave up five runs, only four of which were earned, on five hits, including a two-run home run by Mark Teixeira in the third, and two walks while striking out one Yank. J.A. Happ followed him and was stung by the Yankees as well, giving up three runs on four hits, including a two-run home run by Hideki Matsui in the fourth, and two walks while striking out only one man. The bullpen then came in and shut down the Yanks, as Brad Lidge, Mike Koplove and Scott Eyre each pitched a scoreless inning, giving up only two walks (Lidge and Koplove one man each) while striking out a total of three (Koplove (2), Eyre (1)). Drabeck took the lost, his spring record at 0-1 with a high ERA of 15.43, while Happ might have seen his chances of joining the main team, via the bullpen, go up in smoke.

Among the batters, the Phils had ten hits, with Jimmy Rollins and Jason Ellison both leading the way with two hits apiece, followed by Shane Victorino, Rich Thompson, Pablo Ozuna, Jayson Werth and Carlos Ruiz with one hit each, with Werth’s hit being a solo home run, his sixth of the spring. Along with Werth, Thompson and Ellison both had one RBI while Ozuna knocked in two runs.

The Phillies are presently playing their last spring training game in Florida, as they face the Washington Nationals at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Florida. The score is presently tied 10-10 after seven innings of play.

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This week’s trivia question is: Name the first ex-Phil to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame? You know where to find the answer.

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